Foot Exercises

Whenever a patient of mine comes in with heel pain, bunion pain, etc, the first thing I ask them is if they do foot exercises. Most of the times, they just give me a blank start, laugh, or ask me if I am serious. The truth is I am serious about my patients taking time out of their day to do these exercises. You can do these exercises anywhere, they do not need to be done at a gym and they do not need any fancy equipment.

Did you know that there are 26 bones in the foot, 33 joints and over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. So it is important that everyone does foot exercises especially runners since they put so much pressure on their feet.

As you can see from the picture above, of the bottom of the foot, that there is a lot going on. It is important that all those muscles and ligaments stay strong not only to protect the bones of the foot but to protect the whole body.

I found this video from Runner’s World on you tube, they are simple exercises that anyone can do to help strengthen their foot. The only exercise that I do not agree with in the video is the Achilles tendon stretch. For this stretch I do not believe in lowering the heel below the step. I feel that puts to much weight on the Achilles tendon, and can lead to tears. I do tell my patients when they do it, not to put all their weight on their achilles.